


Captive Fear

by CynicalBonehead



Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Claustrophobia, Dreams and Nightmares, Fear, Imprisonment, Jack Frost is Nightlight (Guardians of Childhood), Jack Needs a Hug, Katherine is there to help, Night Terrors, Nightmare, Nightmares, Other, Panic Attacks, Phobias, Trapped, duh - Freeform, every keyword that basically Pitch feeds off of, fucking let her Jack, im writing for this fandom?, sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-22 12:03:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21301757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalBonehead/pseuds/CynicalBonehead
Summary: A short drabble, exploring one of Jack's greatest fears. Originating back from his life as Nightlight, the scenario won't ever fade as much as he tries to deny it. Comfort guaranteed for his hurts.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 85





	Captive Fear

Fingers entwined with his wooden staff. Lips pursed in thought on a lingering question, that all guardians had heard before. 

_ **What are you afraid of?** _

The others had simple, expected fears. Losing each other, death, having no believers. Jack would be lying if he said he did not fear any of those things. Loss was something he had danced with before long ago. However, that was not the fear that Pitch preyed upon time and time again. Pitch knew it from the very beginning. 

His body shaken. Looking to the left… 

Nothing. 

His right. 

Nothing. 

In front of him. 

Darkness. 

All that can be seen faintly is his hands. The unending quietness could only be interrupted by his own breath and a foreign heartbeat. Not a soul could find him. If he tried to scream, no one would hear him. The darkness cackled at him. It knew he could not last forever.  
Jack could only curl himself up into a ball. He didn't even have the energy to cry. Biding was his only option. The distant heartbeat taunted him as a reminder of the hellish prison he put himself in.  
His Tsar… His Tsarina…  
They perished, he imprisoned himself, all so the Prince would live.  
Jack however, forgot how long he was trapped. The safe space he huddled in got smaller and smaller as time went on. The pressure weighed down on him, on every part of his body. It tried to force a scream out of Jack’s throat. Yet, no matter how hard Jack tried, he couldn’t make a sound.  
The darkness would swallow every noise he would try to make.  
Finally, something other than a heartbeat echoed out to him.  
  
  
“Enjoying your prison Little Light…?” The voice couldn't be any other than Pitch. His tone was strained, yet oozed with satisfying poison to sink into Jack.

  
_“Shut up...shut up…”_ Jack thought to himself.

  
Pitch chuckled. His energy was like a cat observing a mouse, whom is still alive, trapped in a mouse trap. Jack could feel Pitch’s eyes just piercing into him.  
“You can’t hide in your thoughts Little Light. As I cannot you.”

  
Jack ground his teeth. _“It is not just my prison, Nightmare King. As long as I dwell inside your rotten heart, you are frozen in place. A statue you will be, as I.”_

  
“Oh….what a misguided... dim flame you are.” His laughter grew in power and in volume.  
  
  
Jack shot his head up in the direction of his laughter, and felt the wind instantly knocked out of his rib cage. That little corner of light Jack huddled in, was shrinking.  
_Rapidly._

He tried lifting his hands to hold the walls himself, but all it did was make Pitch laugh harder. It was only until he was forced to lay flat on the tiny fragment of light, that he was finally able to scream. The wall’s impenetrable darkness bared down on his arms, so he could not hold back any longer.  
That was it. He was going to be crushed and consumed by the darkness. 

“Go ahead. SCREAM LOUDER FOR ME! I will make this as painful as possible for you.” Pitch’s sadistic laughter made Jack’s ears ring. The satisfaction was too much for him to contain.

He couldn’t fight it. The darkness was just too much for him. It would swallow him no matter what he did. gods no... No.. Not like this. He can't. Pitch shouldn't have been able to win.  
Cold tears finally slid down his face as he could no longer scream. The walls were going to crush and corrupt him no matter what. He..should...just..give up-

  
“Jack??? Jack!!!” a feminine voice called out from beyond the darkness. 

  
The darkness instantly melted away, as he could feel someone shaking him. Jack yelped and sat upwards with a jolt. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized he was in Katherine’s library. Not in Pitch’s heart…  
“I was-”  
  
  
“-Having a nightmare? Yeah..” Katherine frowned in worry. “I’ve never seen you like that.. uhm..Do. Do you want to talk about it?” 

  


Katherine sat down on the carpet next to Jack, her eyes reflected the fire’s embers. Jack looked into the fire ahead of them and hugged his legs. Finally, he glanced at Katherine, who's presence warmed the terror away quicker than any fire. After wiping his eyes, he finally found his voice again.  
“Yeah...I think I do.”


End file.
